Maintaining Windows: What to keep, What Not.

[Lifehacker]

Everybody's got an opinion on how to keep a Windows system running fast and smooth. Some tips are timeless, others are bunk that always recirculate. Here's a closer look at what really helps and hurts your Windows PC.
First up, here's the quick chart version, with the tips you're likely to hear floating around the net and from the mouths of casual IT types; each tip is plotted by its reputation and actual value. (More details for how we assigned these values below.) Click the image for a larger view.

And now a little finer explanation on those points.

Seems Bad, Is Good

These are those tips that seem like they actually kind of suck, but are in reality pretty good for your system.
Sleeping/Hibernating Instead of Shutting Down: Knowing that your laptop is drawing even just a trickle of power can freak out anyone who's had to pay for an expensive battery replacement, so a lot of people think it's always better to shut down your system when you're not using it. If we're talking PCs, the answer to the question of sleep or shutdown depends on how you feel about your electricity bill. For laptops, the issue of battery life and convenience is a sticky wicket. It takes some time and some vigorous hardware use to boot up your system, so if you know you're only stepping away from your system for, say, less than 3 hours, go ahead and close the lid and suspend it, or hibernate your system if you find it faster starting up. If you're going to be away for a solid bit, shut it down. Either way, don't plug it in if you don't have to, and spend more time getting things done than micro-managing your modern battery.

Dual Boot Windows 7 with vista

If you're dying to try out Windows 7 but aren't ready to give up your installation of XP or Vista, let's take a look at how to dual boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista.

Step 0: Download the Windows 7 Beta and Burn It to a DVD

 

Assuming you've already downloaded a fresh copy of Windows 7, you'll need to burn it to a DVD in order to do a fresh installation. To handle this task, grab a copy of the most popular CD and DVD burning tool ImgBurn, burn the ISO to a DVD, and move right along to step 1.

Step 1: Partition Your Hard Drive

Before you go installing Windows 7, the first thing you need to do is create a new partition on your hard drive to hold the new installation of Windows. Partitioning your hard drive will vary depending on whether you're running XP or Vista—namely because Vista has a partition tool baked in, XP does not.

Partition Your Hard Drive in XP

To partition your hard drive in Windows XP, you'll need to download some sort of third-party partitioning software. There are a lot of options available, but I prefer to stick with the previously mentioned GParted live CD, a free, open source boot CD that can handle all kinds of partitioning duties.
To use it, just download the GParted Live CD, burn it to a CD, then reboot your computer (booting from the disc). You'll boot right into the partitioning tool. HowtoForge's previous guide to modifying partitions with GParted is a great place to start, but it's a fairly basic procedure:

1. Resize your current OS drive to free up enough space for a Windows 7 partition (the minimum system requirements ask for 16GB).
2. Create a new partition from the newly freed space.
3. Apply your changes.

Partition Your Hard Drive in Vista

The folks at Redmond were kind enough to include a disk partitioning tool in Vista if you know where to look. So go to Control Panel -> System and Maintainence (skip this one if you're in Classic view) -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management. Once you launch the Computer Management tool, click on Disk Management under the Storage heading in the sidebar. It's partitioning time.

 

Luckily we've already gone down this road before in step-by-step detail, complete with pictures, so check out our previous guide to creating a new partition in Vista. In a nutshell, you'll need to shrink your current OS partition to free up at least 16GB of disk space (per the Windows 7 minimum system requirements), then create a "New Simple Volume" from the free space.

Step 2: Install Windows 7

Now that you've done all the heavy lifting, it's time for the easy part: Installing Windows 7 on your new partition. So insert your Windows 7 disc and reboot your computer (you'll need to have enabled booting from your DVD drive in your system BIOS, but most PCs will have this enabled by default).


Once the DVD boots up it's a simple matter of following along with the fairly simple installation wizard. When you're choosing installation type, be sure to select Custom (advanced) and choose the partition you set up above. (Be careful here. Choosing the wrong partition could mean wiping your other Windows installation altogether, so make sure you pick the new partition you just created.)
After you select the partition, go grab yourself a drink and let the installer do its work. Windows will run through some installation bits, restart a few times in the process. Eventually you'll be prompted to set up your account, enter your license key, and set up Windows. Keep your eyes open for fun new Windows 7 features, like your new homegroup (and the accompanying password). When it's finished, you're up and rolling with your new Windows 7 installation.

 

Congratulations! You should now have a new entry for Windows 7 on your boot screen when you first start up your computer. You've now got all the tools necessary to dual-boot Windows 7 and XP or Vista—or even to triple-boot Windows 7, Vista, and XP.

This isn't the only way to set up a multi-boot system by any means, but it's how I pulled it off. If you've got a method of your own that you prefer, let's hear it in the comments.

Download a copy of Windows 7 RC now!

The Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) is publicly available right now, so it's time to get your hands on a copy - which will work for you uninterrupted until next Spring. Don't get too excited though, as at nearly 2414MB, it's not a quick download.
So how do you get it? Well, like the beta, you'll need to register for a product key. But unlike the beta, the RC will work for most of a year from now, so you won't have to update straight away when Windows 7 is actually released sometime before January – most likely Autumn.
While Microsoft has confirmed the RC will not expire until 1 June 2010, it has cleverly ensured you'll need to sort out your installation before March. "Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours," says Microsoft. "Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010."

• Download the Windows 7 RC

"[The RC is] a big deal for us," Microsoft's Windows OEM Product Manager Laurence Painell told TechRadar last week. "Obviously, we are releasing what we feel could be the final version - what we will put out to manufacturers and even wider availability when we release the product to consumers."
"Our official line is that [the production version] will be available no later than January 2010 and we will stick to that, but people will still be able to use the release candidate for nothing until June 2010."

What you need to think about
Beware that, like the beta, the RC is based on the Ultimate version of Windows 7, so if you invest in a netbook running the Starter Edition or another PC running Home Premium (or buy the boxed version), your version will have some features missing.


And remember also the sage advice – don't install the RC on a critical PC where you store all your main files and especially not if you haven't backed them up.
As with the beta version, you'll also need to burn an ISO file to make an installation DVD. Available in English, German, Japanese, Spanish and French as well as 64-bit and 32-bit versions, the OS requires a PC with these system requirements:

• 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

If you have any technical questions about Windows 7, such as what partition size you'll need for dual-booting Windows 7 and Windows Vista, you may get the answer on TechNet's Windows 7 forums.
Microsoft hopes that the RC release will be as successful as the beta test. "There has been a great deal of feedback and a huge amount of it positive through the beta program," added Painell. "Obviously the beta program was the widest that we've ever run and the overwhelming response has been positive.
"We're obviously very excited internally about the quality of the product and that's been one of the overwhelming things internally."